BardicKnowledge

The next time you see me online, remind me and you get two or three crates for one anything.

My first thought was of VVVVVV -- this is a very good thing. I love the integration of string instruments into contexts where they don't usually appear -- rock guitar was nice, mixing the strings with the chiptunes was surprisingly even better. The jazz section was fun, but felt removed from the rest of the piece. I don't know how you'd rectify this, unfortunately -- sorry for my lack of advice here 3:20 hahaha wtf. This mix keeps getting more and more fun! At this point, shock value is worth more than smooth transitions String section following was my favorite part of the piece -- the chiptune lead and electric guitar integrate with the strings surprisingly well again during the transition out of the slow portion. Why don't we hear other mixes with this type of amazing voicing more often? While the transitions might be a little jarring for some, it's really amazing how well the violin, viola, synth lead, and guitar work as a quartet. More please!

Like halc before me, I really enjoyed the major section. At first I thought I might prefer a switch of key instead of mode, but decided that maintaining the key keeps everything very smooth. Either way, great work on that section and the transitions in and out of them. I would like to hear the intro wait just a little longer on the heavy drum beat -- say, 4-8 measures or so. Give us a moment to appreciate the strings without having other things to concentrate on next time. Nice work overall, MattInc! Let's hear some more sooner rather than later.

Dave's writeup says most of what I want to say this time -- there isn't a lot going on. That being said, sometimes a quality of good arrangement is that listeners don't notice the details. The groove definitely works for me here -- this would make a great driving song.

Happy birthday - have a great day!

I think I would have liked to get to the solo a bit sooner -- it's easy for such a well-known theme to feel repetitive, and this comes dangerously close. That being said, the mix is so full of energy and fun that it's hard to dislike having a little more of it. My other critique is that I wish you had brought out some of the supporting melodic material a little more -- it gets buried under the lead during the section starting at 1:31. Nice mix overall -- let's hear some more soon, please!

haha, you guys are awesome.

I just want to add that Moseph is spot on as far as how academia perceives computer music (and especially electroacoustic music). Here at the University of Minnesota, we host the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, and it's essentially people doing crazy "out there" stuff with the technology along the lines of what you have described. Music that most readers of this site would consider to be "electronica" or "techno" is essentially not even welcomed, much less actively invited. To say that it's an acquired taste is putting it lightly. Based on the experiences I've had at grad school (FYI I'm a musicology grad student), the only reasons to go to grad school in composition are if: 1) You want to teach composition or theory at a university someday. 2) You want to compose music grounded in 20th century atonal music (electroacoustic or otherwise) for a mostly self-selected audience of other musicians in academia. Otherwise, you are probably better off taking your portfolio and using it to get the job you want -- which isn't to say that you shouldn't visit the other schools on your list and form your own opinion, incidentally.

Happy birthday -- I hope you have a great day!

Everyone did fantastic work -- consider the bar raised for MVC4!

Tea was obviously the best part of DoD this year -- just ask OA!

Something feels off about the violin -- I can't place it right now. It definitely isn't enough of an issue to detract from the fact that this track is totally badass. Like the judges, I love the middle section, which gives us a break from the drums, preventing them from becoming monotonous and instead maintaining the intensity during the sections we do hear them. I love the "music box" effect of opening and closing with only the bells. It's as if we're being asked to remember how awesome we felt as we originally played the game. Great mix of a great track -- I'm looking forward to your other tracks forthcoming this year!

Spencer, Arthur, and Trish. And of course Firebrand, who didn't make the cut (and was the longest shot to begin with).

I'm also extremely satisfied with the roster as is -- I got three of the four Capcom characters I wanted (Firebrand is the missing one).

This is a great mix -- the two themes integrate very well, and the live instruments (especially such a well-played flute!) are always nice. My biggest complaint is that there is a gap between the quality of the flute + guitar (great) and the drums -- that being said, since the drums aren't ever spotlighted this isn't a big deal. Amy, are there any melodic instruments you don't play? Edit: Forgot to mention just how awesome the guitar entrance is at 0:37 is -- nice work!

I still don't understand why itt we are still having arguments about the equilibrium price. Raising price over equilibrium absolutely will not result in more revenue period -- this is high-school level economics. An extremely simple example, but nonetheless relevant: Let's say that you can sell 500 units at $50, and that's your equilibrium price. That becomes $25,000 in income. At $30 you sell 800 units, and at price $60 you sell 400 units. The lower price point sells more copies for less total revenue ($24,000), and the higher price sells fewer copies for less total revenue (again, $24,000). Those numbers are arbitrary obviously, but the principle of there existing an equilibrium price is not. There will _always_ be one price that generates the highest possible revenue for a product -- a graph of price and units sold will basically never have a straight line on it, always a curve. Why then, do companies lower the price of games that have been at retail for an extended period of time (usually between 3 and 6 months)? Partly to make space for new games on the shelf, and partly because just like a car, the perceived value of the vast majority of them decreases over time -- the lowering of the price point accommodates this.

Trailer looks awesome. Won't be a day-one purchase for me, but it looks like it has potential.

No such thing, imo. I own all of the Weis/Hickman books

Combination of a Dungeons and Dragons joke and the fact that I was a music major in college.

This. MAG in winter-time means decent flight / hotel rates, which means I can go.

I play a ton of Star Battle with friends also. Hit me up if you want to join the team, Dhsu: RTBardic / 871.

If it's a .ips patch only, link us please. I want to give this a shot

I really enjoyed the two chapter alpha I played a long while ago. It'd be nice to see the whole game. Maybe this weekend... As for huge drama, let's avoid it please.

Correct -- that's why my room was at the Marriot across the street.

Same here, I only play 2v2 and 4v4 on a regular basis.